Albert Einstein may have made the discoveries that led to nuclear and solar power, lasers and even a physical description of space and time, but Sir Isaac Newton had a greater impact on science and humankind, say two new polls.

Newton, the 17th century UK scientist most famous for describing the laws of gravity and motion, beat Einstein in two polls conducted by the UK scientific academy, the Royal Society.

More than 1300 members of the public and 345 Royal Society scientists were asked separately which famous scientist made a bigger overall contribution to science, given the state of knowledge during his time, and which made a bigger positive contribution to humankind.

Newton was the winner on all counts, with a large margin among scientists (60.9% for Newton and 39.1% for Einstein).

But the public poll was closer with Newton only beating the German-born Einstein by 0.2% (50.1% to 49.9%).

"Many people would say that comparing Newton and Einstein is like comparing apples and oranges, but what really matters is that people are appreciating the huge amount that both these physicists achieved, and that their impact on the world stretched far beyond the laboratory and the equation," says Royal Society president Lord Peter May.

Pro-Newton scientists argue he led the transition from an era of superstition and dogma to the modern scientific method.

His greatest work, the Principia Mathematica, showed that gravity was a universal force that applied to all objects in the universe, finally ruling out the belief that the laws of motion were different for objects on Earth and in the heavens.

Einstein's supporters point out that his celebrated theory of relativity disproved Newton's beliefs on space and time and led to theories about the creation of the universe, black holes and parallel universes.

He also proved mathematically that atoms exist and that light is made of photons, setting the theoretical foundations for nuclear bombs and solar power.